Auto leads way in commercial price increases: Willis Towers Watson

Commercial auto insurance saw double digit price increases reported for the fourth consecutive quarter in Q1 2019, according to Willis Towers Watson’s Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS).

CLIPS is a retrospective look at historical changes in commercial property/casualty prices and claim cost inflation.

The observed price changes for commercial auto insurance were reasonably consistent across all account sizes, CLIPS found.

Commercial auto was an outlier in the size of the price increases recorded in Q1. Price changes for most lines were flat or slightly up on the previous quarter, with only commercial property, excess/umbrella liability, directors and officers liability and commercial auto seeing significant increases.

Overall, prices charged on US commercial insurance policies underwritten during Q1 2019 increased just over 2 percent compared with those written in Q1 2018, according to CLIPS.

“Overall, price changes were consistent with recent surveys, with the exception of directors and officers liability, where data now indicate an uptick of price increases into the mid-single digits,” said Jeffrey Carlson, director of insurance consulting and technology at Willis Towers Watson.

“While estimates of 2018 claim cost inflation are still elevated compared to the recent past, they have moderated somewhat from estimates provided in our last survey, as the data continue to mature,” he added.